AND1

Picture the scene: Three twentysomething basketball addicts - Seth Berger, Jay Gilbert and Tom Austin - hoping to turn a business-school research project into a successful business, scope the scene at the SuperShow, a major international trade show for the sports-apparel industry. Surrounded by the latest and hottest sportswear, the trio's only reaction is that they would not wear a single thread of the apparel being showcased. It's that type of attitude, coupled with an extreme respect for and love of the game of basketball and a keen understanding of their target market, that has led to the evolution of AND1, the young guns' basketball apparel company that is muscling its way to the top of its market.